Around July 4, five people died in the Philadelphia area shooting, the worst violent incident in the nation.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A 40-year-old man with a rifle, pistol, spare magazine, police scanner and bulletproof vest shoots dead four men in the Philadelphia area and chases and kills a fifth man inside a house. the police announced. .

A 2-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy were also injured in Monday night violence, making the working-class neighborhood of Kingsething the scene of the nation’s worst violence around the 4th of July holiday.

Police said the shooter opened fire on police who were chasing him for the block. Police Chief Daniel Outlaw said at a press conference that the men surrendered in an alleyway when they caught up. She said the shooter had no relationship with the victims before the shooting.

“Thankfully, police officers were on the scene and responded quickly. rice field.

About four hours after the shooting in Philadelphia, three people were killed and eight injured when gunshots rang out at a festival near Fort Worth, Texas.

Two people were killed and 28 wounded in shootings at a weekend block party in Baltimore, about 90 miles (145 km) southwest of Philadelphia. More than half of the victims were minors, officials said.

In Philadelphia, police were called around 8:30 p.m. Monday. Multiple calls reporting shootings also originated from Kingsessing. Police found several victims and heard more gunshots while helping them, Outlaw said. Police told Fox29 that a fifth victim was driven into his home and shot dead. Ammunition shells were found outside the house.

A second person was also taken into custody and may have opened fire on the suspect. Outlaw said police weren’t sure if the two were related.

She said officers found dozens of shell casings scattered across eight blocks.

“You can see there are several scenes here,” Outlaw said. “We’re searching the area for as much information as possible, identifying witnesses, identifying where the cameras are located, and doing everything we can to find out why,” Outlaw said. said.

On Tuesday afternoon, police identified the victims as Rasheed Merritt, 20, Dimir Stanton, 29, Ralph Moralis, 59, and Dojan Brown, 15, all of whom died Monday night. He was confirmed dead shortly after the shooting. 31-year-old Joseph Wummer Jr. was also found at his home early Tuesday morning, also with multiple gunshot wounds.

A 2-year-old boy with four bullets to the leg and a 13-year-old boy with two bullets to the leg are in stable condition, while a 2-year-old boy and a 33-year-old woman suffered crush injuries. was the same. glass.

Tim Eads said he heard fireworks on Monday night, followed by gunshots and saw a police car “fly away.” His wife was upstairs and she was “looking out the bay window and saw the shooter actually running down this street behind me.” Eads said he saw another man with a pistol, who may have fired at the attacker.

“He used my car as a shield and ran out into the street,” Eads said.

A resident named Roger, who declined to give his last name, said he heard eight to 10 gunshots while eating with his family in the living room around 8:30 p.m.

“Everybody thought it was fireworks, but I’ve been here for about three years and I’ve heard enough of them,” he said. “I looked out the window and saw a lot of people running.”

After hearing four more shots, he said, “I thought it was over.” Ten minutes later, he said, police “flew in here” and about five minutes later, rapid gunshots were heard just outside the house.

Violence in Philadelphia will be the country’s 29th mass murder in 2023, the highest number so far this year, according to a database maintained by the Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. became.

The number of people killed in such incidents is also at its highest so far this time of the year.

There have been more than 550 mass murders since 2006, with at least 2,900 dead and at least 2,000 injured, according to the database.